World No. 1 Novak Djokovic had nerves of steel as he struggled past clay-court specialist and long-time rival Rafael Nadal to move on to the semi-finals of the Rome Masters on Friday. The duo battled for two hours and 24 minutes, before the top-seeded Serb prevailed 7-5 7-6 in a grueling encounter.

Nadal squandered early breaks in both sets as Djokovic broke back on both occasions. The Serb lived up to his reputation as he held his nerves at crucial junctures to sneak a thrilling conquest of his Spanish counterpart. Moving on, he will meet either 6th seed Kei Nishikori or 13th seed Dominic Thiem.

In the other quarter-final encounter, 2nd seed Andy Murray produced a sublime performance to register a 6-1 7-5 victory against a12th-seeded Belgian David Goffin. Both Murray and Goffin looked rusty on their respective serves, but the former was the dominant of the two on return that helped him cruise through after a 94-minute battle.

Up next for him awaits lucky loser Lucas Pouille, who received a walkover from Argentine opponent Juan Monaco in the last-eight stage.